Sisters of Grass

A Novel

In her vibrant first novel, Sisters of Grass , Theresa Kishkan weaves a tapestry of the senses through the touchstones of a young woman's life. Anna is preparing an exhibit of textiles reflecting life in central British Columbia a century ago. In a forgotten corner of a museum, she discovers a dusty cardboard box containing the century-old personal effects of a Nicola valley woman. Fascinated by the artifacts, she reconstructs the story of their owner, Margaret Stuart. Margaret, the daughter of a Native mother and a Scottish-American father, she tries to fit into both worlds. She's taught photography by a visiting Columbia University anthropology student that she falls in love with.

With strong, poetic language, Kishkan makes the past reverberate through the present in a richly patterned work celebrating the complexities and joys of life and the sustaining connections of family.

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It will come as no surprise that Kishkan is an accomplished poet. Her descriptions are achingly beautiful in this exquisitely lyrical account of a young girl's awakening to womanhood. It is the story of a young girl, living with her family on a ranch in the Nicola Valley, torn between love for her native past and the possibility of a career of her own, love and New York City.